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Thursday,
November 26, 2015

news@thestuartherald.com

Copyright 2008 SH&B, LLC.

Quilt of Valor Recipient Wide Range of Topics Federal Indictment of

Earl Jacobson of Menlo for WCV School Board Former Casey City Clerk
by Nick Sellman
Special to The Herald

On Monday, November 16,

2015, during a ceremony at
the Menlo Public Library, Earl
Jacobson of Menlo, a Korean
War Army veteran, was presented with a Quilt of Valor on
behalf of the Quilts of Valor
Foundation in recognition of his
service for this nation to protect and defend the United States
of America. The quilt was made
available through the following
series of events.
Al Lind, born in Nebraska
in 1918, served in World War II.
He was captured in Germany,
held as a Prisoner of War for
two years, and received a Purple
Heart Award for his wounds.
Late in life, after retiring from a
career in farming in Washington
State, a neighbor told him about
Quilts of Valor, and he began
piecing string blocks and making quilt tops. At the time of his
death at age 92, he had made
over 500 tops. Al often said,
Service to country is a lifelong
commitment.
At the time of his death
in 2010, approximately 150 of
his tops were not quilted. June
Moore, former executive director
of Quilts of Valor Foundation,

and herself a longarmer, became

the guardian of Als unquilted
tops.
In 2014, June enlisted the
help of her local QOV group to
measure each top and add borders if needed to bring them up
to QOVFs ideal size of 60 x 80
inches. The prepared tops gradually went out to a handful of
volunteer longarmers around the
country. The Al Lind quilt pictured above was machine quilted
by Joyce Lundrigan, QOVF treasurer and board of directors
member.
Joyce said quilting one of
Als tops was an honor. Als
commitment to recognizing those
who serve has been an ongoing inspiration. His service to
country resonates with me as my
father served overseas during
World War II as well. I hope the
story of Als string quilts inspires
many to piece one block - or
many and becomes a legacy for
honoring and comforting those
who serve.
The mission of the Quilts of
Valor Foundation is to cover
service members and veterans
touched by war with comforting
and healing Quilts of Valor.

Always Thank A Veteran

The West Central Valley

School Board held their regular
November meeting Wednesday,
November 18th, at the Dexter
Elementary Library. The board
approved the agenda, minutes
from the October and November
12 meeting. Also approved were
the financial reports and current
bills that had been submitted.
The board approved two resignations and five new contracts.
Resignations
Shonda Pironka resigned
from the para position at the
Dexter Elementary.
Marcus Claire resigned
from the Middle School football
coaching position.
New Contracts
Alexa Groff accepted
the open High School Girls
Basketball coaching position (9th
grade).
Mike Dickson accepted
the open High School Boys
Basketball assistant coaching
position.
Heather Dickson accepted
the open para position at the
Dexter Elementary.
Shirley Andreasen has
accepted the open para position
at Stuart.
Jessica Evans has accepted the para position at Dexter
Elementary, effective November
19.
FFA Sponsor Molly Heintz
and five students spoke to the
board about their trip to the
National FFA Convention in
Louisville, Kentucky, at the
end of October. Morgan Smith,
Emily Franklin, Miranda Neal,
Emma Egger and Matt Smith
described the highlights of the
trip, such as field trips to various
businesses, meeting a number of
FFA students from other states
and the speakers they heard at
the convention. Heintz stated
that there were 60,000 attending
the convention.

Heintz also provided a copy

of the Prairie Meadows 2016
Community Betterment Grant
applications she will be submitting for funds for the green
house project. The board will be
reviewing the application.
The board approved a contract
with Schwinger Lawn Service
for snow removal at the Dexter
and Redfield buildings for the
2015-2016 season at the rate of
$65.00 per hour.
They approved an open
enrollment request fro the
Hopkins family for their daughter to Earlham CSD for the 201617 school year.
Also approved (pending fulfillment of all necessary graduation requirements) was the
request for mid-year graduation
for the following students: Nash
Coe, Brett Hunter, Austin Rittel,
Matt Ross and Charlie Beaman.
The board approved a motion
to approve the annual Modified
Allowable Growth funding
request for $223,447.00 for open
enrollment out.
Sharon
Sloss,
Stuart
Elementary Principal, discussed
with the board the School in
Need of Assistance plan that her
team was required to prepare
and file with the state. Our
plan includes setting up Family
Literacy Nights, provide training
for the parents on reading websites and providing used books
for students to take home.
Also included would be training
teachers on close reading and
critical reading skills to be used
during reading blocks.
Middle School Principal
Anthony Lohse and High School
Principal Debbie Wilson spoke
to the board about the first quarter grade reporting for the middle
school and the high school. Mrs.
Wilson stated that 44% of the
WCV High School students have
made the honor roll during the
first quarter. Mr. Lohse discussed
the overall improvement of the
middle school.

Stuart City Council

Special Meeting
by Nick Sellman
Special to The Herald

The Stuart City Council held a special meeting on Monday,

November 16, in the Stuart Council Chambers. After approving the
agenda, Chip Schultz, city financial advisor, presented the council with the 2015 Stuart TIF Certification scenarios. The council
approved the following 2015 TIF Certificates:

In honor of Veterans Day, West Central Valley Middle School

social studies students wrote thank you notes to veterans. Some are
being distributed to local American Legion members to show gratitude to community veterans. The rest of the cards are being sent to
the veterans health care facilities in Des Moines and Marshalltown.
Students pictured above displaying some of their personal greetings are front row, from left, Cael Carl, Keifer Wallace, Brandon
Sargent; center row, Mikayla Hanner, Emily Escato, Andrew
Campbell, Kadance Butterfield; back row, Drew Belden, Allison
Dobsch, Hunter Stiles, Rayna Kutcher, and Josie Sackett.

Alan Mahaffey Completes

Advanced Manager Academy

Cultural Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $142,093

Dollar General Store 18,990
1st Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,072
Municipal Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231,946.
Aquatic Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163,839
Depot Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,665
Wausau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,000
Wambold Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,375
S. 7th Street Project 42,875
AMS Reinvestment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,000
At Your Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,000
Nate Westre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,000
Marks Development 22,000
SEED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000
Faade Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367,575
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,360,430

On November 18, 2015,

Acting United States Attorney
Kevin E. VanderSchel announced
the return of an indictment
charging Dorothy L. Dillinger,
former Casey City Clerk, with
five counts of mail fraud for
her role in a scheme to defraud
by using the Citys credit card
to purchase items for personal
use. The indictment also charged
Dillinger with one count of malicious use of fire for the fire that
destroyed the Casey Community
Building, which housed the city
clerks office. The return of this
indictment stemmed from an
investigation into the misappropriation of city funds and burning of a community building in
Casey. (Indictment is defined as
a formal charge or accusation of
a serious crime.)
The joint investigation was
conducted by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives, State Fire Marshal
Division of the Iowa Department
of Public Safety, Guthrie County
Sheriffs Office, Guthrie County
Attorneys Office, and the United
States Attorneys Office for the
Southern District of Iowa.
The news release stated the
Casey Community Building fire
was set just prior to midnight of
August 19-20, 2014. Personnel
from the State Auditors Office
was scheduled to arrive at the
clerks office on the morning
of August 20, 2014 to conduct
an audit of the Citys records
following a successful petition
drive by citizens of Casey seeking an audit.
An initial appearance and
arraignment is scheduled for
November 30, 2015 at 2 p.m. at
the United States Courthouse in
Des Moines.

BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Action for a state audit of
the citys records was precipitated by concerned citizens who
had questioned why there was
never any money for community
improvement, street up-keep,
etc., and no reasons were given
for lack of funds. It was determined by the citizenry to obtain
a petition requesting an audit of
the City records. (City of Casey
had not had an audit for 20-30
years.)
Spokesperson for the citizens, Judi Zimmerline a business owner in Casey since April
1967, requested the official petition form from the state auditors
office. The first signature on the
petition circulated by Casey citizens was recorded on August 19,
2013.
On Thursday, September 5,
2013, the council members of

the City of Casey were served

papers of petition for an audit
by the Auditor of State, State
of Iowa, of the financial transactions and the condition of
the funds of the local government, and were received by the
Casey City Clerk at 3:35 p.m. on
Thursday, September 5, 2013.
The petition forms included
the required number of signatures pursuant to Chapter 11.6
(3) of the Code of Iowa, and was
within the qualification guidelines outlined and set forth by the
Office of the Auditor of State for
the State of Iowa.
The petitioners had sent copies of the completed petition
forms to the Office of the Auditor
of State, for the State of Iowa, as
requested, so they could monitor
the status of the petition request.
The documentation included the
date the petition was filed with
the Casey City Council as served
by the Guthrie County Sheriffs
office.
Petitioners were aware that by
law in Chapter 11 of the Code of
Iowa, if the petition includes the
required number of signatures as
based on the 2010 Census, the
City Council is required to have
an audit.
The State of Iowa Auditors
office had an appointment to be at
the Casey City clerks office the
morning of August 20, 2014 to
start the investigation. At 12:08
a.m. on Wednesday, August 20,
2014, the fire call came to the
Guthrie County Sheriffs Office
and local fire departments.
According to records, although
the response was immediate,
the City clerks office and community building were already
engulfed in flames by the time
fire departments arrived.
Many of the city records were
destroyed in the August 2014
fire, according to the August
27, 2015 report of the State
Auditor.
On August 27, 2015, Auditor
of State Mary Mosiman released
a report on the special investigation which stated Dorothy
Dillinger admitted to an investigator with the State Fire
Marshals Office she issued
unauthorized checks to herself
and used the Citys credit cards
for personal purchases.
Dorothy Dillinger became
Casey City Clerk on September
21, 1984. In a letter to the Mayor
and Council of the City of
Casey, which was received on
September 22, 2014, Dillinger
wrote, Please accept this letter as my immediate resignation from my position as City
Clerk for the City of Casey.
This request was accepted by the
Casey City Council at a special
meeting on September 23, 2014.

First Season Snow

Makes For A Fun Day

Greg Roth, Veenstra & Kimm, gave the council an update on the
Downtown Infrastructure Project.
Fire Chief Michael Renslow discussed the upgrade to the fire
department air bags and the departments need for a new grass rig.
This would be financed by the fire fund. He stated he would work
with the city administrator to study the financing of the grass rig.
Rescue Unit Director Ron Ross discussed the preliminary process
to demolish the bus barn.

Sarahs Holiday Caring

Pick-up December 9
Alan Mahaffey left, receiving a certificate from Grinnell Mutual
Assistant Vice President of Reinsurance Rick Tjarks.

Alan Mahaffey of Farmers

Mutual in Stuart completed
Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance
Companys Advanced Mutual
Manager
Academy
held
November 9-11 in Grinnell. The
64 participants from throughout
the Midwest, learned more about
a variety of topics including con-

tractual responsibilities, preparing for state exams, dwelling

and homeowners RPM and rate
study, and emerging issues. They
also received extended training
on management, claims, underwriting, reinsurance, marketing,
and technology.

Pick-up night for Sarahs Holiday Caring families will

be Wednesday, December 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the Skating
Rink/American Legion Building in Stuart. No early pickups.
Donations for Sarahs Holiday Caring are encouraged,
and can be made and sent to First State Bank, P.O. Box
400, Stuart, IA 50250.
Contributions of new clothing (especially coats, socks
and pajamas) can be brought to The Stuart Herald. For
information, contact Kristy Lonsdale.

A family day for the Phippens in Stuart from left, Alyson,

seven; Ayden eleven; and Alyc, nine.